Evolution and Impact of Technology in Language Learning
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These days, there should be no excuse for not learning a language. This is due to all the advantages that technology gives us to learn easily from the comfort of our homes. In this opportunity, we will not talk about the advantages that technological development brings, we will focus on 2 methods that are gaining a lot of fame. Find out what they are!
Traditional language learning can be used thanks to the Internet
Traditional language learning is based on receiving 2 types of lessons:
- Non-personalized face-to-face lessons.
- Personalized face-to-face lessons.
Non-personalized classes are those that are taught in a classroom, where there may be multiple students. This is what is normally found in educational institutions of different levels.
In the case of personalized education, this is more expensive and privileged, because it is based on a tutor who teaches a single person, usually in his own home.
Both methods are traditional, only one is more personal than the other. Thanks to the Internet, it is possible to enjoy both forms of education.
Non-personalized lessons can be found on free platforms, such as YouTube, where there are a large number of channels focused on language education. For example, BBC Learning English, a youtube channel from the big news network that has free content for learning English through interesting videos.
If you are looking for a more professional way to learn a new language, you should aim for personalized lessons through platforms like Spanish55. How does it work? You will meet for 55 minutes with a highly-qualified Spanish tutor over Skype. You can schedule all the lessons you want, at the time you want, and you will only need Skype and an internet connection. This is one of the best ways to learn a language nowadays.
AI education is becoming more famous every day
Artificial intelligence is one of the most surprising technological developments of today, but it is also one of the most controversial, due to the lack of knowledge that exists.
The artificial intelligence that we currently have, does not look like what is shown in science fiction movies, they are not robots capable of replacing humans.
When we talk about artificial intelligence, we refer to a program with the ability to think like a human and above all, with the ability to learn.
For a few years, there have been apps with artificial technology designed to help in language learning, but it is always recommended to complement this method with a more traditional one.
Many experts recommend using free tools that are available online, such as share.america (official website of the World Public Affairs of the United States Department of State) or spanishtutoring.com, a library of free resources to help you through your Spanish learning journey. Sometimes it’s frustrating to learn from textbooks that are difficult to understand. This website simplifies the learning process with a detailed guided explanation of each lesson and audio aids for pronunciation. For instance, in Spanish, the verb ser and the verb estar are used almost interchangeably. SpanishTutoring guides can help you understand when to use the estar conjugation and when to use the ser conjugation.
There is no excuse to learn a new language nowadays. Tech developments are allowing us to learn languages in an easier way, from anywhere and from any device.